Summary

Natalya sees Vera and Beliayev go, commenting that it looks as though they are running away and saying that Vera is too young to be spending time with young men. Rakitin asks how old she is, and Natalya says she's seventeen. She repeats the number as though it has some significance and then asks whether Shpigelsky has left. Rakitin says he has, and Natalya comments on how amusing he can be. Rakitin talks about how she didn't seem as though she was in a mood to be amused, and then Natalya says she may be in a bit of a mood but that she's always prepared to laugh. She adds that she had something particular to talk with Shpigelsky about, but when Rakitin asks what it was, she tells him to mind his own business, saying she needs to have some secrets. They argue over whether Rakitin...